2023-11-18 17:03:00
How hard is the life of a major video game license! If the path to getting to the top is particularly perilous, you still have to be able to stay up to the players’ expectations once you have reached it. And in this little game, it’s been a long time since the Call of Duty license failed.
When a game is at its peak, two solutions are generally favored by publishers. Some try to keep the goose that lays golden eggs alive by multiplying add-ons and adaptations on different platforms (Skyrim, GTA V) while the sequel is patiently developed, giving creators the many years necessary to surpass their previous leader. -work. For others, it is absolutely necessary to monetize the popularity of the license by releasing a new episode each year as long as the enthusiasm is present. It is this second option that Activision (recently acquired by Microsoft) has chosen for one of its most popular brands.
If, at the beginning, this strategy can be profitable because developers can rely on previous games to build new opuses, there comes a time when players are no longer fooled and shun the few new features added each year. Activision pulled a lot on “Call of Duty” but is now facing a backlash: the most popular FPS of all time is at the end of its life.
This Modern Warfare 3 is a shame in more than one respect and alone symbolizes Activision’s strategic failure.
The campaign mode, although until now one of the great strengths of Call of Duty, is now completely outdated. It offers an extremely short adventure (4-5 hours maximum) composed of repetitive missions in false open worlds which give the player the impression of wandering aimlessly except to complete the useless and dated objectives which keep recurring . The main asset of the Call of Duty campaign has always been its Hollywood, spectacular side. But forget the setting or any form of scenario that would keep you in suspense since, even on this point, this mode disappoints. It is only from a purely technical point of view that the game keeps its head above water by offering cutting-edge graphics (but also many assets reused from their last games).
Regarding multiplayer, nothing new on the horizon. To play on the nostalgia of its players, Activision has re-released many of its old maps. Mind you, the idea is good since it saves the effort of building new game environments. However, nostalgia is of no use if it is not accompanied by satisfactory gameplay. And here too, this Modern Warfare 3 is not up to par.
The weapon balance is terrible (some are real fragger machines while others feel more like paintball than a war game). The maps offered are too large and poorly constructed and the spawns are catastrophic. The experience is all the more embarrassing.
Let’s move on to the overhaul of Zombie mode, which is losing its roots (no more waves to face or secrets to find but a “Warzone-style” open world in which you have to complete various missions) but also to the ergonomics of the menus, which are light years away from what we expect from a modern game (menus in all directions, incomprehensible, filled with additional content that they are trying to sell you). In short, staying on this Modern Warfare 3 for many hours in a row feels more like torture than fun.
Activision and the Call of Duty license are at a turning point in their history. With the takeover by Microsoft, expectations are high, both for players and shareholders. In recent years, it is clear that the publisher has favored the latter, offering an annual game at full price that is often neither accomplished nor successful. But this Modern Warfare 3 is the straw that risks breaking the camel’s back for players. Without a major rethinking and extensive work (even if it means not releasing any more games for a few years), the legendary FPS risks sinking for good and finding a place in the cemetery of has-been games, where we will regret it, that’s obvious.
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